Floating earthworking element for implements



P 8 1954 R. J. ALTGELT ETAL 2,690,113

FLOATING EARTHWORKING ELEMENT FOR IMPLEMENTS Filed May 8, 1951 INVENTOR. A24 wuo/vo w v/4.90 R0004 PA .1. 4476417 Patented Sept. 28, 1954 STATES TENT OFFICE Rudolph J. Altgelt;, So

nth Bend; Ind, and. RaymondWaWilson Ferndale, Mich, assignors, by mesne assignments, to Ford Motor Company,

Dearbcrn, Mich.,

a corporation of. Delaware Application May $1951, Serial N0';Z2 5,'17"2' 1. Claim. 1-.

This invention-relates to a floating; earth-work.- ing: element for implements and particularly to an earth workin element; for: ground-.- burdened with obstructions.

Tilling or cultivating stony ground" and socalled"dr'y land presents problem'snotiordinarily encountered in what is considered the better farming areas of the. country. When using conventional cultivatingimplements 0r these-called stubble mulch plows: in-stony ground; the earth working elements of such implements frequently lodge behind stones thereby causing l'o'real'rage of the earth Working elements-or" otherwise damagill the implement. If no damage is incurred-by th implement, the normal cultivating or tilling operation is interrupted by either alateral or vertical" deviation of the implement usually resulting in physical damage to the crops' or' in svficient weed destruction;

In dry 'land' plowin'gior cultivating, it is. desirable that the top surface of the soil bedisturbed' as little as possible in order that excessive drying of' the, soil be prevented.

advocated. in" such dry region's, aswel11as in' the more northerly portions of the country, that" the surface of the soil should. preferably be covered with vegetable refuse in the form of'leaves or plant stalks to protect the soil as well. asv to retain surface Water both. in winter and. in summer. Tilling the soil'with conventional moldboard. plows, however, buries the leaves and stalks thereby defeatingthe desired end. Another unfortunate result' of plowing with a moldboard plow" isthat the subsurface of? the soil is left-in a firmed hard.conditionivhichmakesit exceedingly diiiicult for the roots ofvarious crops such as Wheat and corn. to penetrate. it;

It' is, therefore, an object of" this invention to provide an improved, earth working element for improved-preparation or cultivation of the' soil i-n'dry or stony ground.

Afurther object of this-invention is to; provide a floating'earth working, element for implements which is unusuall effective: in breaking-up. the hard plow pan produced by moldboard plows.

The specific nature of this invention, as well as other objects and advantages thereof, will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the one sheet of drawings on which, by way of preferred example only, is illustrated several embodiments of this invention.

On the drawings Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of the improved floating earth Working element constructed in It: is also being utilize this improved earth accordance with this invention shown mounted on an implementtine.

Fig. 2 is asectional view encompassed by the plane 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a bottom view ofFig'. 1.

Fig. dis an exploded perspective 'view showing the elements used for pivotally mounting the earth working element-to the tins of Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a plan-view ofa modified sweep.

Fig. 6 is a side elevation of Fig. 5.

shown on the drawings:

The improved floating earth working element or this invention may be utilized with a Wide variety of cultivating type implements or it may be use"! for seed bed preparation in lieu of plowing, particularly when tilling soil in dry land areasor where a minimum of surface disturbance is required as in stubble mulch farming. Its use may also. be extended to cultivating row crops and other crops. In any event,- such element may be readily attached to the tool bars or tines of such implements without the expense of providing an entirely new implement in order to working element.

Accordingly, there is shown in Fig, 1 the depending tine or standard it] of a cultivating or tilling implement. Tine or standard i9 is arcuately shaped and has its upper end" secured by a bolt IE to a transverse implement attaching bar it. The lower end of tine it curves forwardly and has a" chisel point E3, of well-known construction, secured by a pair of bolts l3a to the forward face or such tine at its lower extremity.

A mounting bracket I i is secured to the back. of the lower extremity of tine It; as best shown in Fig. 1, so that an earth working element 2% can be attached thereto. Bracket I 6 comprises an arcuate plate i' id shaped to snugly fit against the rear surfaceoi tine ill. Plate Hid-has a pair of spaced apertures lib through which the pair of bolts are: are respectively inserted. Nuts Nib screwed on to the endsof bolts ltd secure plate to the rear side of time it. Plate I la has a substantially triangularly shapedlug its, integral therewith, or secured by welding to the back side thereof. Lug lie is secured adjacent a longitudinal edge of plate Ma as best shown in Fig. 4. A pin it is suitably secured within a transverse aperture (not shown) in lug 14c, and pin it underlies plate I la as best shown in Figs. 3 and 4.

A clevis it comprises a U-shaped member having a rounded end its which defines a substantially cylindrical hole lhb. The legs Iii-c of clevis it are spaced apart for a reason to be presently explained and the forward ends of legs I60 have vertically aligned apertures l6d. Clevis I6 is mounted on transverse pin l5, cylindrical hole ltb permitting such assembly. Pin it has a transverse hole Ilia near the outer extremity thereof through which is inserted a cotter pin it to pivotally secure clevis [8 to such pin,

The earth Working element 28 can partake of the shape of any one of a plurality of well-known sweeps, blades or shovels, and is illustrated as comprising a, pair of wedge shaped blades 26a. Blades 23a are secured by a plurality of bolts lea to the under side of a rectangular mounting block it. Blades Elia are arranged in generally V-shaped configuration on such block and the wedge shape of such blades define soil cutting edges 2%. The forward end of mounting block 23 is rounded, as shown at i631), and such rounded end has a vertical aperture lfic. A bolt id insertable through aligned apertures ltd in clevis l3 and through aperture I80 in mounting block is pivotally mounts earth working element 29 for sidewise swinging movement on the bracket Clevis it also permits freely vertical swinging movement of the earth working element 25].

A modified form of earth working tool 2! is shown in Figs. 5 and 6. The earth working tool 2i more nearly approaches the form of a con ventional sweep which is commonly used in cultivating. The earth working tool 2! has an integral lug 2 la formed on the forward apex there of in which there is provided a vertically disposed hole 25b which permits mounting such tool in clevis it as described for earth working tool 293. It will be appreciated that this invention is not limited to the particular shape or configuration of the earth working element that can be mounted on bracket Hi. However, the preferred shapes of the earth working element are shown on the appended drawing. In either case the earth working element is trailingly secured to the supporting tine by pivotal connections permitting free movement of the attached tool in vertical and lateral or transverse planes.

When utilizing the earth working tool 20, such tool performs best for severing the roots of weeds below the surface of the soil in cultivating or for breaking the plow pan or subsoil when working at a greater depth than for cultivating. The vertical pivot axis provided by bolt it permits tool 23 to freely swing from side to side as either of the blades 28a encounters a stone or other obstruction in the soil. Hence, the straight line, uniform depth forward progress of the implement to which this tool is attached will be relatively unimpeded. In the event that an obstruction in the soil tends to produce a vertical deflection of tool 20, the tool 2!! will ride either up or down to pass such obstruction through the horizontal pivotal connection thereof to pin l5. Except when encountering obstructions, the normal soil reaction on tool 20 will cause tool 20 to trail smoothly behind tine IE3. However, as stated above, in the event an obstruction is encountered in the ground, the tool 20 will readily pass around such obstruction with a minimum of implement.

When utilizing the form of earth working tool 2 I, such tool is primarily used for shallow surface cultivation and the vertical and horizontal freely swinging movements greatly facilitate the cultivation of the crop rows inasmuch as this type of earth working tool will more accurately trail bebind the tine of the implement.

From the above description, it is clearly apparent that there is here provided an improved earth working tool which can be attached to any suitable implement such as a cultivator, spring tooth harrow, or a plow beam for surface cultivation of crops,.for subsurface cultivation, or for breaking up the plow pan below the top soil. It is further pointed out that this improved earth working tool can be readily moved through ob struction filled soil, such as stony ground, with but a minimum of interference with the implement on which such tools are mounted, as these improved earth working tools will conveniently swing from side to side, or vertically, to avoid such obstructions. It will also be apparent that these earth working tools can be used singly or in any combination to suit the particular crop tillage or cultivating needs.

It will, of course, be understood that various details of construction may be varied through a wide range without departing from the principles of this invention and it is, therefore, not the purpose to limit the patent granted hereon otherwise than necessitated by the scope of the appended claim.

We claim:

In an implement having a depending tool standard, an earth working tool having forwardly converging cutting edges, means defining a vertical axis bearing hole disposed adjacent the vertex of said forwardly converging cutting edges, a bearing pin traversing said bearing hole, a clevis member supporting said bearing pin, said clevis member defining a horizontal axis bearing aperture, a bracket attachable to said tool standard, a horizontal pivot pin supported by said bracket at a position rearwardly of said tool standard and traversing said horizontal axis bearing aperture, whereby said tool is trailingly and swivelly supported relative to said tool standard for pivotal movements in both vertical and horizontal planes.

disturbance to the References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

